Claims that officers lied about Sean Rigg death in custody case are dropped

Misconduct claims against three police officers accused of lying about the movements of a musician who died in custody have been thrown out.

Police constables Mark Harratt, Richard Glasson and Matthew Forward were accused of gross misconduct after allegedly giving false accounts that musician Sean Rigg had spun himself around in the back of a police van.

But the claims were dropped on Wednesday after their lawyers successfully argued that there was no evidence they had lied. A separate claim that Harratt failed to check the police national computer to make sure there were reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Rigg’s passport was stolen was also dropped.

The trio and two other officers – ex-Pc Andrew Birks and Sergeant Paul White – still face a raft of other misconduct allegations.

Mr Rigg, 40, died at Brixton police station in 2008 having been arrested after being seen in Balham bare chested in the street aiming karate kicks at passers-by.